Local McDonald's volunteers employees' time during remodel

The McDonalds restaurant at 190 Interstate 10 in Beaumont had to temporarily close its doors in early November for a remodeling project to create a new look spreading across the hamburger chain’s locations nationwide.

During this remodel, this location launched a new program called “OPERATION A.R.C.H.” During the remodel, store employees donated their time to local charities from Nov. 8-16. The charities include the Julie Rogers “Gift of Life” Program, the Southeast Texas Food Bank and Goodwill.

The idea came from Jonathan Ellis, the son of the owner-operator and also the store manager at the McDonalds location at 190 Interstate 10. Ellis’ vision was to maintain employees hours but donate the time to charitable organizations during the remodel. “It is a great way to direct our employees’ hours and wages in the effort to give back to the community,” said Ellis. “We are excited to get started with the remodel and to get working in the community.”

Owner-operator Brian Ellis said, “We are committed to an active involvement within the communities. This project is following the philosophy of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, who continually invested his time, talents and resources in the communities he served.” Ellis currently owns and operates 20 other McDonald’s restaurants in the area.

“We’re pleased to be part of McDonald’s continued growth,” said Ellis. “We plan to continue our commitment to McDonald’s and the local communities by maintaining the standards of excellence in quality, service, cleanliness and value for which McDonald’s is known as the industry leader.”

McDonald’s USA is the leading food service provider in the United States. More the 80 percent of McDonald’s 13,700 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees.